Better With My Eyes Closed
by Predtards
Summary: Juan Carlos is half Cuban, half Black, and somehow manages to become the leader of a group of skin heads. His prim and proper mother, Julietta, is also along for the ride. Oh, and he killed a Predator. Nothing could go wrong here, right?
1. My Friend, the Enemy

Author's Note: Hello all! Sorry for the long silence, but the wait is over! We had to get our ducks in a row. Lots of planning goes into these big stories before they kick into gear. You wouldn't even believe. Well, maybe you would. Beside the point.

So, here is our new long story! Huzzah!

Disclaimer: We are happy to claim Julietta and Juan Carlos. They are awesome.

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Chapter 1: My friend, the Enemy

"Juan Carlos! I am tired. Can we camp yet?"

Juan gritted his teeth at his mother's complaints. "No, mama. We can't stop yet. Just sleep in the seat, or the back seat. You'll be fine."

Julietta Maria Fernando Onobanjo pouted, crossing her arms. "You know perfectly well I cannot sleep in the car. I get sick. You wish for me to get sick all over the car? What kind of child did I raise?"

Juan Carlos Fernando Onobanjo was deeply tempted to begin beating his head against the steering wheel. "Mama. Of course I don't want you to be sick all over the car. But, we can't stop now. We haven't gotten far enough. What if the aliens come for us? We're just too close. And you are tired, so I offered a suggestion. That's all."

He didn't mention, except in his head, that the other suggestion was to let his mother sleep in the trunk. Sighing, his eyes straining, he resigned himself to listening to his mother complain about many various and sundry things, like the lack of useful appliances, and being forced to leave the house that she had just finished paying off.

Finally, another hour or so later, they stopped and parked. Juan got out first, with his weapons, making sure the area was clear of the face jumpers and the adult versions of them. When he was certain everything was clear, he unpacked their tent and set it up quickly.

Julietta was also out of the car, puttering about, helping set up camp, before she crawled into the tent to sleep. Juan Carlos sat outside the tent, keeping a sharp eye out, ready to get his mother and run if the need arose.

Juan had fallen asleep, when he heard noises. Jerking awake, he stared wide eyed into the pre dawn darkness. Whatever was out there was making a lot of noise. Standing, he cradled his gun carefully. Julietta poked her head out of the tent, afraid. Juan shushed her and crept forward.

There were bright lights. Flashlights by the look of it. The group seemed fairly large, around thirty if he had to guess. They were around the car he'd been using to get him and his mother far away from their home in Florida.

Julietta, who had been the mechanic the whole trip, keeping the car up and running, had ignored her son's gesticulations to stay in the tent. Grabbing her gun, she stormed out of the tent and straight towards the mob around "her" car.

"Hey! All of you! Get away from my car! I will not let you take it!"

The men all started, staring at the tiny woman waving a rather large looking shot gun in their direction. One of the men, who had been trying (unsuccessfully) to hotwire the vehicle sat up quickly, hitting his head on the wheel and swearing in pain.

Stopping a bit away, Julietta looked appalled. "Young man! Don't you dare swear like that! That is terribly inappropriate, I hope you know!"

The men gaped at her, clearly bewildered. Then, one stepped forward, sneering. "And why should we care what YOU think, bitch? We need this car. Hard to find working ones. So, you and the big nigger over there are just shit outta luck."

Horrified, Julietta's face clouded in rage. "How DARE you! Do not call my son such awful things! You! You are… mal educado!"

"I'm a mall? What?"

"Your mother didn't raise you right!"

The leading man scowled, stepping closer. "WHAT did you say about my mama?"

"She raised you poorly and your community failed in raising you properly! Such poor language and behavior! God was clearly not in your household."

Rumblings of anger swept through the much larger group. Horrified, Juan Carlos went closer to his mother, pushing her behind him. "Mama! No! Why are you trying to make things worse for us? We can't fight all of them. If we had just let them take the car, they may have left us in peace."

Scowling, Julietta sulked. "They were saying bad things about you, my Juanito. I could not stand for it. Doesn't a mother have a right and a duty to defend her children?"

Before Juan could reply, and before the opposing group could attack, an awful sound shrilled through the air. It was the scream of not just one, but many Xenomorphs, sounding nearby.

There was silence in the clearing, then a mad dash for the car. All the men of the opposing group charged the vehicle, screaming that they had a right to get in first, to drive away. None of them seemed to remember they didn't have the keys, and couldn't hotwire it.

Juan Carlos grabbed his mother's hand, running back to their tent and grabbing all their weapons. They could come back for food and clothing and other things later, or scrounge more later. He had to get to a more defensible position.

He and Julietta ran into the woods, and some of the smarter enemies they had faced off against followed them, knowing the car was a lost cause. After awhile of running, they heard the screams as the men still at the car were attacked and killed, or dragged off.

Smiling grimly to himself, Juan Carlos was thankful for those men. It meant, hopefully, that fewer of the Xenomorphs would come after them. By the time he found a niche suitable enough for defense, the sun had begun rising, gently lighting the world with its rays.

Squinting in the brightening day, Juan and the other men and Julietta kept watch, waiting to hear the Xeno screams come closer, to be attacked. There were about 20 total on guard, minus Julietta and Juan Carlos. Almost half the other group had been lost to the Xenomorphs.

After a bit, Juan Carlos stood and looked at the men that had tried attacking him and his mother the night before. In all the rush and the battle, he hadn't bothered looking at them. Sighing irritably, he realized, to his mild horror, he was dealing with a group of skin heads.

They all glared at him and his mother, muttering angrily amongst themselves. He didn't want to deal with this right now. Or ever. Not only was he black, which they hated, he was Catholic, which they hated almost as much.

Deciding now would be an excellent time to make a run for it, Juan Carlos grabbed his mother and began backing away. "We'll be going back to the camp. You do whatever you like. Good luck."

With that, he scooped up his mother and took off at a sprint, leaving the men in the dust.

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The clearing where Juan and Julietta had set up camp was now in shambles. The car was still there, but it was pretty scratched up. Their tent and supplies were scattered all around, further evidence of the massacre that had taken place. There were one or two men still there, but with the face grabbers on them.

Juan checked around cautiously for any threat to him or his mother, then began to hurriedly gather their things together, Julietta helping out as much as possible. The men that had followed them to their hiding spot had followed them back here and were wandering around, clearly at a loss of what to do.

Juan froze. He had heard a noise. Shushing everyone, the day was still, and growing hot. A few minutes passed. The skin heads began to relax, laughing and making fun of him. On particularly brave fellow laughed loudly. "Well, jeeze, boy, no need to freak us all-"

His head was gone before he could finish the sentence. After a moment of silence, full blown panic erupted. This was no xenomorph attack. This was the work of the OTHER aliens. The masked ones. Juan had seen them from afar. Seen what they did to humans and Xenomorphs alike.

He could see the barest hint of a shimmer. It moved, and the men who had been face grabbed were blown to pieces. No monstrous Xenomorphs would come from them. Then, the shimmer started towards the others.

They began to flee. Three men fell before anyone knew what was happening. Chaos reigned supreme. Juan grabbed his mother, trying to flee. She tripped, was about to be trampled by the fleeing men. She screamed as a fifth man was skewered near her, splattering her with blood and intestines.

Rage filled Juan Carlos. A temper he tried desperately to never let out came to the surface with a roar. Charging forward, he grabbed his mother from the battle, tossing her away from where someone else was about to fall on her.

A glint of light and he had his gun up, blocking the double blades that had been set to skewer through his torso. Slamming back, he hit something metal, high up. Jumping backwards, Juan waited, knowing he'd attracted its attention now.

Crouching, he held his gun more like a staff. Hearing a sound behind him, he ducked as a laser blast flew over where his head had been. Instead, the blast hit the car, blowing it into pieces, igniting the fuel tank, turning it into a spectacular explosion.

The smoke and crackling of the flames made it much more difficult for Juan to see or hear where his opponent, or his mother, was. Growling, he crouched, pulling a knife, waiting quietly. He moved slowly, cautiously. Nothing.

Then, he was grabbed by his neck. Choking, he watched as the monster revealed itself. It pulled a spear out, clearly intent on skewering him. With a snarl, his own knife flashed out, catching the monster just underneath its helmet, slicing and stabbing as quickly as he could, to inflict the most damage.

It dropped him, stumbling backwards and clutching its throat. Juan stood, and charged it again, picking up his gun on the way and firing as many shots as he could, as fast as he could, into its torso. Soon, it fell, growling and gurgling.

Standing over the monster, Juan scowled, hating it with every fiber of his being. As if dealing with the xenomorphs wasn't bad enough. Then these guys had shown up and made everything even worse. For them, AND the xenomorphs. He supposed he could thank them for the last.

The thing was trying to reach for something on its wrist. Some pad or something. Aiming his gun, he blasted its arm, so it couldn't type in anything. It could be calling for friends. Then, before it could do anything else, he fired a shot into its neck, severing its spinal cord.

Glaring down at the monster, Juan nudged it with his foot. It was, more than likely, dead. Turning away, he looked for his mother. He found her huddling behind a tree. Leaning down, he smiled at her tiredly. "Mama? Are you all right?"

She looked up, sniffling. "I-I'm fine, Juanito. Oh! I'm so glad you're all right. I was so worried about you! Are you injured? Are we safe now?"

"Yes, I'm fine Mama. No need to worry. I'm not injured. And we're as safe as we ever are. Unfortunately, we gotta walk from now on. Until we find another car for you to fix up. Now, we need to hurry and gather whatever we can find. Just give a shout if you are attacked or see anything bad or anything."

Julietta nodded, wiping away some of her tears, still clutching at the small rosary that she'd been holding the whole battle. She puttered about, looking for what was still good to take. Juan Carlos took guard, watching for any more Xenos or Masks or humans that may come to attack.

Soon, they had what they could carry, including their tent, which managed to avoid too much major damage. Juan took most of it on his back, Julietta only taking a few things and her weapons. As they began walking down the road.

After walking most of the day, Julietta was even more tired than she had been the day previous in the car. But, she refrained from complaining. Her poor Juanito was clearly exhausted, and had sustained injuries. But, if he refused to complain about how bad off he was, she refused to as well. She could be tough. She just hoped her stubbornness would be enough to keep her going.

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They finally set up camp that night. Julietta lit a fire, just enough to cook Juan Carlos a good meal, that he deserved. She insisted he sleep first and he gave in after only a little bit of a fight. This was a very bad sign. Juan Carlos was never this cooperative, unless he was hurting.

Sighing, she sat guard, watching the night sky. It was only a bit cloudy, so she could still see the stars. Gently holding her rosary, she whispered prayers to herself, thinking on her God and the way the world had turned out.

She heard a noise. Starting, she dropped her rosary and grabbed her gun. "Who's there? Come out with your hands up! I'm not afraid to shoot you!"

Juan Carlos came out of the tent, holding his weapons. "What is it, Mama?"

"I-I thought I heard something. Over there."

Juan went over, scowling. "Come out. Now."

No response. Even angrier, Juan lifted his gun and fired a few shots into the bushes. With shouts, some men stumbled out of the bushes. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

Juan didn't lower his gun. "Why didn't you come out when we called?"

"W-well, we, were, you know-"

"Trying to sneak up on us while we were asleep. To steal our things. To kill us. Any number of things. I don't appreciate it."

One man threw up his arms. "No! Nonono! We were coming to ask for help!"

Juan Carlos lifted on eyebrow, quirking his head, beads in his hair clacking. "Help?"

"Y-yeah! You were great in the fight! You-you might be able to keep more of us alive!"

"How so?"

"Well, we lost our leader to the Xenos. And, we don't really have anyone to take his place. Please, help us."

Juan crossed his arms. "But, you're a bunch of skin heads. You hate my skin color, you hate my heritage, you hate my religion, you seem willing enough to hurt helpless people, or those who you think are helpless."

The men flinched, like whipped dogs. "W-well, that's some of the guys. We joined up with them cus they were strong, kept us safe. Now, they failed. And we need help. A lot of the guys feel that way. They'll be dicks to you, but if you can keep us fed and safe and happy and all that, then they'll be okay."

Juan thought on this, then nodded. "I'll go with you. Mama, stay here. I'm just going to see if this will work out. Okay?"

Julietta was prepared to argue. But, the look on her Juan Carlos's face told her that now was not the time. Scowling, she nodded, then went into the tent, sulking. Juan sighed. "I love you, mama. I'll be back in a bit."

Juan went with the three men, to the camp they had set up. He sat with the man who was in charge for the moment, a man named Ron.

Ron scowled at Juan as he came in. "So. You're the nigger that 'saved the day'."

Juan frowned. "Evidently."

"Well, see, I don't appreciate having my authority usurped by some upstart punk like you."

"Then, don't. My mother and I will be on our way. Bye."

As Juan Carlos turned to leave, there were dangerous rumbles in the camp. All the men, save a few, glared angrily at Ron. Scowling, Ron backpedalled . "Wait, wait, wait! Goddamn, I'm sorry. Look, we need your help. I can't lead these guys half as well as you can. Plus, you killed one of those big alien guys. They respect you for that. As long as you're willing to deal with us, in all the ways we are, we'll let you lead. You'll be safer."

Juan thought on this. "I can deal with your idiocy. But, there is one thing that will be a deal breaker. My mother comes with. You will not say rude things around her. You will not try to harm her in any way. You understand? My mother is off limits, completely."

"Fine. Go get her, and we'll follow you."

"Deal. Break it, and I leave. And I'll leave a few bodies behind me. Got it?"

Ron smiled, about to agree flippantly, when he saw the look in Juan's eyes. There was death in those eyes. Swallowing his grin, Ron shrunk down, nodding. Giving a curt nod, Juan stalked off.

Some of the men began muttering and talking about all the changes, including being led by a nigger. Ron shushed them. "Damn it, boys! We got no choice. These aliens are way worse than any nigger. Just deal with it, all right? We don't want to cross that guy. He'll kill us for sure."

Most of the men subsided, remember how the man had fought, and killed, one of the Masks. It was still terrifying to remember. They sat and waited for Juan's return, watching the woods in fear, wondering where this new guy would lead them.

Juan returned with Julietta a bit after midnight. They set up their tent, informing Ron that they would have a meeting in the morning, to determine where to go and what to do next. Ron agreed, and the camp settled down for the night, cloaking all in silence and darkness, waiting for the dawn.

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End Author's Note: We wish we were as cool as Julietta. She gets even more awesome, have no doubts. If you weren't impressed by her now, you will be soon. Juan Carlos is also pretty fabulous. We love him, too. ^_^ ^_^


	2. Trail of Bread Crumbs

Author's Note: So. Here we are in chapter two. We're working on getting going full run with this, but we both have family vacations coming up at separate times, Ally is moving to a new apartment, all manner of things. We'll try to keep you informed and keep up with things as best we can. Thanks for your patience!

Disclaimer: As per usual, we don't own anything. Surprise surprise.

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Chapter Two: Trail of Bread Crumbs

Juan Carlos was horribly frustrated. He'd been in a meeting all morning with Ron, and other higher level skinheads, including a HORRIBLY annoying man named Jake. Jake was the only one, however, who kept trying to get Juan Carlos and his mother kicked out for being something other than white.

Juan peered over the map, pointing north. "Look, the Xenomorphs are slightly less active in the cold. Plus, there are fewer people in these states, so fewer people for the Xenomorphs to change. If we head that way, we're better off than staying here."

Jake rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Oh, that's just GREAT. We're going to follow this nigger and his whore mother up north, where we MIGHT escape getting attacked by, oh, maybe 5 fewer monsters. How reassuring!"

"Do YOU have a better plan? Or are you just being obnoxious and idiotic for the hell of it?" Juan replied, rubbing his throbbing temples.

Jake sneered. "I don't think I need to answer to you, porch monkey. I say we find a place, fortify it, and hunker down. We'll be fine as long as we don't put ourselves out there so much."

"Are all of you this stupid?" Juan asked, looking around at the assembled skinheads. "As if we haven't seen plenty of people try to 'hunker down' as you put it. The Xenomorphs ALWAYS find a way in, or they just end up getting overrun. If we're on the move at least there's less of a chance that they'll mob us in one spot."

Grudgingly, Ron nodded. "He's got a point, Jake. I've seen plenty of supposedly secure hideouts that got taken over faster than anything. If we're on the move, it's at least something. We won't get complacent, get snuck up on. At least not as easily. And maybe we can find more people to help us out along the way. We can't afford to be like this anymore, Jake."

Snarling, Jake stalked to Ron, pushing his face up into the taller man's. "Can't afford to be like this? And what's that supposed to mean? That you don't think like we do anymore? That we aren't better than those, those, lowlifes? They're nothing compared to us! They're good for cutting wood and digging holes!"

Ron scowled, grabbing Jake by his collar. "You listen to me, you stupid shithead. I'm saying we can't afford to be so judgmental that we lose good help and good ideas. This all about survival now, and nothing else. So stow that shit, unless you actually have a decent idea in that thick skull of yours. Got it?"

Shoving Ron, Jake stomped away from the meeting, muttering darkly to himself. Ron sighed, turning back to Juan Carlos. "All right. We'll do it your way. Chart the course and we'll follow along. But do anything too stupid, and they will turn on you faster than a rabid badger."

Juan Carlos nodded and turned back to the map, trying to figure out how to avoid most of the main highways which would be cluttered and impassable. Sighing Juan sat, wondering how he was going to make any of this work at all.

Juan looked up, searching the empty blue sky for answers. "My dearest Lord. Please, be with me in this time of trial. I don't think I can do this on my own."

There was no response, but he honestly hadn't expected one. Another sigh and Juan stood, turning back to the map. He didn't have much time left.

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Julietta puttered around, getting as much as she could prepared before they travelled the next day. Looking over at Juan Carlos, she sighed. He had one of his bad headaches again. He was kneading at his temples, trying to get the pounding from his head.

She tucked a few more shirts into a pack and sat on it, buckling it tightly. She walked over to her son and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, so much like his father's. "You worry too much, my son. You try to take the world and all of its people on your shoulders, just like your father. He'd be so proud of you."

Juan Carlos smiled and patted his mother's arm. "I'm glad to hear that you think so, mother. I just can't help but worry. These men are my responsibility now. If I'm wrong about this, they will all be dead, and us as well. I just- I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened now. I'm afraid of the future, mother. Of what is going to us. To all humans. To our Earth."

Julietta sighed and stood, ruffling her son's heair. "Leave the future to God. He knows best. It will all turn out just as he plans."

Before Juan could reply, screams began echoing through the camp. Someone charged into his tent and he stood, thoroughly alarmed. "What is it?"

The man panted and gasped, horrified. "Another Mask! We can't see him! He's only gotten a few more of us, but we know that it won't stop til we're all dead!"

Juan turned to his mother. "Stay here. Stay unarmed. It won't hurt you if you're not a threat. Okay? I'm leaving now."

As Juan charged off, he heard his mother calling after. "Be safe, my Juanito! Come back to me well!"

Juan smiled as he ran into the night, hoping that his mother's prayers and well wishes would be enough to get him through yet another fight with a masked warrior. Somehow, he was skeptical that he could do it once more.

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Juan headed to where the loudest screaming was. There he found a few dead bodies, and an unshielded Mask. It was roaring and lashing out at the men, who had formed a ring around it in an attempt to contain it from the rest of the camp.

Juan charged in with his gun drawn, as a man went flying by. Ducking down, Juan let a shot fly, blasting into the being's torso. It roared and charged him, powering past the other men trying to stop it, dead set on getting to Juan.

Snarling, Juan dodged to side, rolling, then stood and jumped on the Mask's back. It reached around, trying to grab him off. Fortunately, Juan Carlos provided enough of a distraction to the Mask for other men to run in and start firing.

As the men shot at the Mask, Juan realized that, despite the bulk of the creature he was clinging to, the bullets would tear through and hit him. Not that the idiots would miss him, but Juan couldn't stand the thought of the hicks killing him. Plus, his mother would never forgive him.

Juan pulled out a knife and, as he leapt from the monster's back, jammed it into where he guessed the spine to be. It roared again and spun, kicking him into a nearby tree. He felt some of his ribs crack. Coughing, he watched as the spray of bullets finally took down the Mask.

Just like the Mask before, this one went for its wrist, growling as the florescent blood spewed from its various wounds. Juan stood with a wince, and charged the beast as it was typing. With a few quick stabs, the beast was down. Panting and coughing, Juan stumbled back and fell to the ground, his breath coming in sharp, painful gasps.

Biting the inside of his cheek, he forced himself to stand back up, shoving the pain from his mind. Showing weakness now would be the end of him. Looking around, he took stock of how many had died. Fortunately, it wasn't as many as last time. This Mask clearly hadn't been as skilled as its predecessor the day before.

"I think we should move on. Get everything together. We can't wait for the morning anymore." Juan said, as he turned to locate his mother. Stopping, he looked back and glared at the men who were still just staring at him. "Well? Would you prefer to stay here and wait for some Xenomorphs to come? That noise would have attracted them."

This got the men moving. They jumped and scattered, calling out to each other and trying to figure out what to bring.

Sighing, Juan went to his mother, who was trying to get their tent down and packed. She cursed violently at the contraption, kicking it, which brought it down on top of her. She squealed in surprise and crawled her way out from under it, muttering to herself in Spanish.

"Nunca me gustó tiendas de campaña. No me gusta acampar. ¿Por qué Dios me hace sufrir tanto? ¿Por qué tengo que hacer frente a este artilugio diabólico?"

Juan smiled, and reached out his hand. "Are you all right, mama? Did the 'devilish contraption' cause you much trouble?"

Scowling, Julietta accepted the help up. "I do not appreciate your mockery, Juanito. Children must respect their elders! Especially their mothers!"

Juan hugged her, lifting her off her feet. "I respect you, mama. It's just too much fun to tease you, though."

Julietta huffed and Juan set her down, turning to deal with the tent. Within minutes it was down and packed, and Juan shouldered as much as he could, giving his mother only a few light bags to carry.

He found the other leaders quickly, and rechecked the maps, before moving out as a unit. The sun was still a few hours away yet, and Juan Carlos hoped there would be nothing too bad waiting for them in the dark. He kept the safety of his gun off, just in case.

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The days and weeks passed as the group travelled, and they ran into more of the Masks. They were attacked three more times on their way north. Each time, the Masks had the same rash, wild behavior as the second attacker.

Along the road, they found scattered groups of disoriented human survivors that Juan allowed to join. Most of them were men, alone or in groups. Only once had they run into some women. Unfortunately, one of the three girls had been attacked by a face hugger, which exploded out of her in the middle of the camp.

The young creature was dispatched quickly, but then the group was forced to kill the other women. If one had been impregnated by the monsters, then the others were likely to have been as well. They couldn't risk having any of the women as potential embryo hosts. This disappointed many of the men and caused some dissension in the ranks.

Julietta was growing more and more furious with all the other men in the camp. She hated their disregard for life, courtesy, and anything resembling reason. When she wasn't arguing with one or another of the skin heads, she was puttering around angrily, muttering darkly under her breath in Spanish.

The third attack by a Mask caused a huge amount of trouble, and it had taken Juan far too much time to get everyone into a cohesive unit again. The attack came upon a small group of scouts. Juan had been training the men to handle the Masks without him, and the scouting group had done well, according to what Juan had gotten over the walkie talkies.

Until the monster typed something into its wrist and blew itself up. The only positives to THAT escapade were that Juan confirmed the need to always, always, ALWAYS stop the Masks from doing ANYTHING with their wrist computers, and that the scouts had disobeyed orders and wandered far enough away that the blast hadn't affected the camp too much.

There were two more attacks after this, and the new primary goal of fighting a Mask was to stop it from doing anything to its wrist computer. A few of the men were a bit overzealous about this, taking to hacking off the monster's arm as son as they were within reach, instead of trying to shoot it.

The alien attacks by Xenos petered off as the Masks attacked more, and the group was worried that soon they would run into the massive hordes of the aliens that the radio had mentioned before all communication went out.

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Juan sighed as he watched the flames dancing in front of him. Some scouts had discovered the potential of a small horde of Xenos nearby, and he had to plan on how to either avoid them or battle them without losing too many of his people.

As he was dealing with Ron and a few other leaders, Julietta was sewing up some clothes, lips pursed in a frown as she listened to other men talking about her and the other women. They had recently rescued a family of three, a father and two daughters, and three other women from a ravaged farmhouse, and the men were overly interested in the five young girls.

One looked over at Julietta with a smirk on his tattooed face. "So, Spanish lady. How did you happen to have Joo Ann over there? One of your customers a bit too careless?"

Scowling darkly, Julietta began praying quietly to herself, asking God for patience to deal with the ungodly men she was surrounded by.

She began saying the Lord's Prayer and Hail Mary's after more insults. It was the only way she wouldn't say something she would regret. The men grew bored mocking her, as they couldn't get a rise out of her.

Sighing, one of the men stood and began wandering off. He waved to his friends over his shoulder, smiling. "All right, guys, you have fun teasing the immigrant. I, however, am going to go enjoy one of the ladies that we helped rescue last week. I'm thinking about that curvy brunette. She has some great assets, if you ignore the fact she can't cook worth a damn."

He walked off and the other men laughed. Julietta crumpled the shirt in her hands and stood abruptly, marching over to where Juan was busy conferring with others. She stood next to him and he looked at her, smiling. "Yes, mother? Can this wait? We're still working on our plans for tomorrow."

"No, this cannot wait, Juan Carlos. I must speak with you now. It is very important."

Juan saw the glint in her eyes and sighed. He turned to the men and nodded. "Give me a few minutes, please. I'll be right back."

Juan led his mother off to the side as the other leaders rolled their eyes and continued their debates. Looking down at Julietta, Juan quirked his eyebrow. "What is it, mama?"

Placing her hands on her hips, Julietta frowned. "Juan Carlos. I cannot STAND what those men are doing to the girls. This is completely against the Lord's wishes! They're not even married! This is no better than prostitution!"

He rubbed his temples, wishing he could have avoided this argument. "Mother. Please. We have to keep the men happy. If we don't, they will turn on us and we will die. Sometimes, we have to do things we don't like to continue living."

"At least keep the men from hurting them! They have bruises! Cuts! They're terrified!"

Juan shook his head. "I just don't think they're going to listen. I barely control them as it is. You know they only need the tiniest of excuses to turn against me. It's a miracle I keep them away from you, mama."

Nothing but cold fury was on her face. "Juan Carlos Fernando Onobanjo. You WILL find some way to keep them a LITTLE bit more safe, or I will deal with the problem myself, in ways that will not please you. Am I understood?"

Juan sighed, knowing that arguing was useless. "I will try to figure out something, mama. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know. I will talk with the others after we get through the battle tomorrow. I promise."

Juliette nodded sharply. "This is fine. If we all die tomorrow, it will not matter anyway. Good night."

Turning on her heel, she vanished towards their tent, intent on praying to try and relieve her fury. Juan frowned, trying to figure out how he could possibly pull this off. Walking back towards the mini conference, Juan scowled, thinking on his mother's demands.

"Even battling the horde tomorrow will be infinitely easier than trying to get these men to change their ways. Why do I always suffer these ridiculously impossible tasks?"

Suddenly, he turned his head sharply, peering into the shadows of the forest. He could have sworn he'd seen… something. He wasn't sure what, exactly. But there had definitely been some movement.

Watching for a few more minutes. He eventually relaxed, shrugging. Perhaps it had just been an animal, or a tree moving, or his imagination. Probably nothing to worry about at this point.

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Khos'ta watched from the shadows, impressed that the _Ooman_ male had noticed him, even if it was only for a moment. He had, personally, watched this male kill several young bloods that had been stupid enough to go after him, and could only assume that he was the one that had killed the other, more advanced, warrior as well.

The Elder in charge of the region had sent him to look into what was killing so many warriors in an area that was not overly infested with the _Kainde Amedha_, and Khos'ta had been surprised to discover that a band of _Oomans_ were responsible. But after watching them for some time, he had figured out that their leader was the one to watch out for. His orders were simply to figure out what was going on, and, now that he'd discovered the source, he wasn't sure what was expected of him. He eventually decided that this situation would be worth watching for awhile.

Perhaps more young bloods would come to try and challenge the _ooman_? Khos'ta sat back on his heels, thinking. He could see how many came, and then send them on their way, after some reprimanding.

Grumbling, he crossed his arms. They hadn't come here to hunt the _Oomans_. They were here to save the creatures, and losing young bloods on this was wasteful and foolish. Not that he expected any better from young bloods. They were always stupid. Too ready to fight, and not willing enough to actually think on what they were doing.

With a grunt, Khos'ta settled in to watch for the night. Tomorrow would be interesting. He wondered whether the _ooman_ group would actually survive the _Kainde Amedha_ coming for them.

Rolling his shoulders, he leaned against the tree, staring down as the camp fell into slumber, wondering if this _ooman_ would be worth not killing for a little while longer.


End file.
